BRISTER’S BRIEF
Hitting your stride during lockdown
ten minutes on a loose rein before starting the trot. When they do start trotting it’s on a long, but not loose rein. Here she keeps things very simple (simple, not easy), riding forward and straight from the inside leg to the outside rein to encourage the horse to stretch forward and down. More advanced work is not started until the horse is listening both mentally and physically. Keeping the horse’s brain onside was an important focus for Ingrid
No matter if you’re social distancing, selfisolating or are even in quarantine, if you are at home with your horse this is the perfect time to
and that’s why there is so much variety in her routine. Once the horse is warmed up the work can begin. This might be dressage or
add some spice and variety to your training,
jumping but the warm-up remains the
writes CHARLIE BRISTER.
of very few riders who have competed
same for both disciplines. Klimke is one at the top level in both dressage and
W
eventing, which just goes to show
ho could possibly have
how versatile her training is. Whether
guessed only some weeks
your passion is jumping, eventing or
ago that instead of the
dressage, you’ll be doing yourself and
show season and our pre-Olympic
your horses a favour if you look up her
events being in full swing, we would
videos rather than binging on Netflix!
all be involved in the fight against
Just to stress again, one of the big
COVID-19 (Coronavirus).
takeaways from the masterclass was to
Let’s hope that before too long social
ensure there’s plenty of variety in your
distancing will be over and horse events
training - especially when there are no
will be back on track, or at least will soon
competitions coming up. Even for her
be scheduled.
dressage horses, Ingrid does regular cavaletti/pole work, jumping and trail
With no competitions it can be hard to focus on training. A good plan is
riding.
needed to keep you and your unicorn
The plus side of this enforced break is
on the right path. Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture with your horse could even help you make a couple of improvements so that you are in better condition for the spring events. Here a few areas that you can work on mostly at home. My main tip is to keep it simple during these times of uncertainty.
Videos and online learning There are plenty of good DVDs worth watching, not the least of which are
regular cavaletti training fitted into their routine. Klimke was captivating to watch, showing Energizer Bunny-like energy
the basics. • How good are your horse’s basic
right up to the end of the masterclass, as
responses, the stop, go and turn
she coached riders starting in the warm-
buttons?
up phase of dressage right up to Grand
• Can you shorten or lengthen the
Prix level competitors. Multi-tasking was
stride, can you make the tempo
obviously a strong suit, as she managed
faster or slower?
to answer audience questions from yours truly and others, interspersed with countless book signings.
any you can find by Ingrid Klimke. After
The warm-up is probably the most
the recent Ingrid Klimke masterclass in
crucial phase of Ingrid Klimke’s system.
Melbourne, all of my horses have had
Her riders walk the horses for at least
10 | H O R S E V I B E S M AY / J U N E 2 0 2 0
that it allows us to go back and focus on
• Can you achieve this while keeping the horse relaxed? Sometimes we need to push our horses to the edge of their comfort zone but hopefully not out of it. Ensure plenty of walk breaks during your
